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Monday, October 31, 2016

Today I am sharing the last Halloween card I made this year. This one was for my BFF and I created the front using the double embossing on aluminum foil technique I have shared so often recently here on my blog. I embossed with an old Cuttlebug spider web embossing folder and added black and gold embossing powder melted with my heat gun. I added a googly eye "boo" just for fun. But the best part of this card happens when it is opened:

I used the pop up circle die from Karen Burneston of Elizabeth Crafts and an awesome witch Halloween wish die from Cheery Lynn to create an interactive pop up center when the card is opened. The spiders on the front and inside are made with a die from Impression Obsession. I signed the card for my friend before taking the picture, so I covered up that part of the inside. I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

Friday, October 28, 2016

It’s my turn to
post a project on Blog Tonic USA and here and I am sharing several
romantic projects I made with Nuvo’s fabulous new Glimmer Pastes and Tonic
Studios Layering Die Sets. I love
playing with new products trying different surfaces and ways to use dies for
card making and gift giving. The new Traditional Hearts Layering Basic Die Set
has 7 sizes of hearts and I used them all at the same time to cut out the
layered red and silver heart on my card. I die cut them on Tonic’s red and
silver mirror card and used every other colored heart on my white wedding
cardbase. I die cut the romantic couple from Tonic’s Silhouette Scenes First
Dance and applied Black Diamond Glimmer Paste. When dry, I attached the couple
and the love arrow to the card front.

Glimmer paste is
also lovely on specialty cardstock like Tonic’s mirror card. I applied red and
silver glimmer paste to two hearts I die cut on the front and the inside of my
wedding card.

I created my heart
gift box with the Traditional Hearts Layering Dies and Garnet Red and Golden
Crystal Glimmer Pastes and a paper mache’ heart box. For the top of the heart
box, I die cut red and gold mirror card hearts. I applied Nuvo Garnet Red
Glimmer Paste through a scalloped stencil on the gold heart and set that aside
to dry. I also applied the red glimmer paste to the side of the top of the box,
and when it was dry, I layered the red mirror card heart, the gold glimmer
paste heart and a love arrow cut with the Sent with Love Miniature Moments die.

I discovered even
more gorgeous color with the glimmer pastes by mixing two together!I mixed the Garnet Red and the Golden Crystal
Glimmer pastes on a craft sheet and then applied the lovely mix to the side of
the paper mache’ heart box with an inexpensive craft brush. I love how pretty
that mix is!

If you love die cuts and crafty project inspiration and chances to
win great Tonic Studios prizes, you will want to join the new Tonic Fanatics
Facebook group! Here is
a link to the group or search
Tonic Fanatics USA on Facebook and join up today!

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

I am sharing a
shaker card I made with Nuvo’s fabulous new Glimmer Pastes and Tonic Studios Layering
Die Sets. I love creating shaker cards
with unique shapes and the new layering dies and Glimmer Pastes over acetate
are perfect for making inter-active shaker cards.

I die cut a fun
white shaped cardbase with the largest of the set of 8 layering dies in the new
Cockle Shell Layering Basics Die Set. I also die cut a navy layer using two of
the medium sized Cockle Shell dies and an acetate layer. I applied Moonstone
Glimmer Paste through a snowflake stencil on the acetate with a stencil knife.
When that was dry, I glued the acetate to the navy blue frame and attached two
layers of thin mounting tape all around the back of the frame. I dumped a mixed
bunch of beads and sequins inside and sealed the back of the shaker element with
a white Cockle Shell shaped back. I die cut a snowflake, applied Moonstone
Glimmer Paste and a Midnight Blue Crystal Drop for the top of the shaker frame.
Here is a look at the beads and sequins all shook up:

The Cockle Shell
Layering dies were also used in the inside of the card for the navy blue base
highlighted with a “Joy to the World” wish die cut with the Essentials die of
that name.

I also die cut a
couple more snowflakes from the center of the Festive Flurry Christmas Strip
die for the inside of the card. Glimmer Paste can be applied all over a die cut
as I did on the snowflake on the front, or just to the tips as I did with these
snowflakes on the inside of the card. I used Silver Gem Glimmer Paste and added
a Silver Moondust Glitter Drop to the center. I used three different ways to
apply the Glimmer Paste to the elements of this card – a stencil knife, an
inexpensive wide brush (for complete coverage on a die) and a q-tip (for just
highlighting the edges.) And our finger tools work just fine too. When using a
stencil and stencil knife and your brushes, be sure to clean them right away
with soap and water.

If you love die cuts and crafty project inspiration and chances to
win great Tonic Studios prizes, you will want to join the new Tonic Fanatics
Facebook group! Here is
a link to the group or search
Tonic Fanatics USA on Facebook and join up today!

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

I love the new Tonic Studios stencils and when used with Nuvo Glimmer Paste, the results are stunning! This stencil called Falling Diamonds (1474E) is my favorite of the new 6 x 6 stencils. Here is a look at the card front after applying Sapphire Blue Glimmer Paste through the stencil with a stencil knife.

The Glimmer Paste is full of sparkly texture and the diamonds start out thin like rain drops and get larger gradually. To make my congratulations card, I simply die cut Tonic Studio's Silhouette Scenes Groom and Miniature Moments "Congrats" out of black cardstock and attached.

Monday, October 24, 2016

I am loving the brand new Tonic Studio 6 x 6 stencils especially when used with Nuvo Glimmer Pastes. The stencil I used for this card is called Beautiful Bokeh (1475E) and it reminds me of snowflakes so I applied Moonstone Glimmer Paste through it onto navy cardstock. Here is a look at the card front after I did that:

So pretty and sparkly IRL! I die cut a star out of gold mirror card using Tonic's Rococo Mini Wreath Elements and added the Essentials "Joy to the World" for the perfect sentiment.

Sunday, October 23, 2016

It’s my turn to post
a project on Blog Tonic USA and here and once again I am
sharing a card I made with Nuvo Embossing Powders and Tonic Studios dies. I discovered
and shared here
on my bloga new technique using Nuvo embossing powders on sticky 2 sided
sheets of tape attached to cardstock. When the embossing powder is melted with
a heat tool on the sticky sheets, the result is a bumpy textured finish. You
can choose to mix your embossing powders as I did on the tutorial I linked
above, or just use one color of embossing powder as I did on the blue textured
background of this sympathy card. I cut a piece of a sticky tape sheet attached
to cardstock 3 ¾” by 5 ¼” and then die cut the outside only of the New Life
Cross out of the center. I removed the top of the sticky sheet and applied
Serenity Blue Embossing Powder all over the sheet, then heat set it with my
heat gun.I die cut the cross pieces
again in white cardstock and popped that piece into the negative cross shaped
hole before attaching it all to a navy blue card base. Here is a close-up of
the blue textured background and lovely floral cross:

I added the
Miniature Moments “Heartfelt Sympathy” die cut out of white to complete the
front of the card. I decided to use the cross I had previously cut out of the
center of the sticky two sided front piece in the inside of this sympathy card:

I embossed the
cross with Tonic’s Simple Stripes Embossing Folder using my Tonic Tangerine,
and then removed the top of the sticky paper. I dumped Nuvo Hot Chocolate
Embossing Powder over the cross and heat set it with my heat gun. I love the
gorgeous textured finish on this beautiful cross. I attached it to a white
piece of cardstock and stamped “Sharing your Sorrow”.

If you love die cuts and crafty project inspiration and chances to
win great Tonic Studios prizes, you will want to join the new Tonic Fanatics
Facebook group! Here is a link to the group or search Tonic Fanatics USA on Facebook and join up
today!

Friday, October 21, 2016

I know I have shown a bunch of cards with the double embossed technique I found recently on this blogpost, but today I am sharing another. My in home class loved the sample cards so much, they wanted to make all three cards this month with the technique. One of them decided to mix things up and crinkled her aluminum foil before adding the Staz-On and we all loved the results, so I tried it here. I crinkled up the aluminum foil, then flattened it somewhat around a piece of cardstock. I applied brown Staz-On on the wrinkles. I picked a Richard Garay pine needles embossing folder and applied Versamark to the flatter side, placed the aluminum foil wrapped piece face down on that side, and ran it through my Tangerine. Then I dumped some green, gold and kettle copper embossing powders on the embossed piece and melted them with my heat gun for a fun variation on this technique. I attached the completed piece to a gold A2 cardbase. I die cut the "Enjoy Today" sentiment from Tonic Studios out of gold and black, layered them just offset and added some black Nuvo Crystal Drops. This turned out to be such a fun variation on the technique, I am including it in the article I am writing for Scrap and Stamp Arts on this technique.

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Think Pink is the challenge theme at Simon Says Stamp on Wednesday and Treat Bag or Box is the theme at Simon Says Stamp on Monday, so I am sharing this pink treat box I created for an article on creative uses of outline stickers. Here are the dimensions of this tag treat box and also a side view:

The tag treat box goes together very easily. I decorated it with a sticker sentiment and outline sticker flowers. I attached the flower outline stickers to double sided sticker paper and dumped on several colors of ultra-fine glitter to color the flowers. Here is a close-up of the glittery flowers:

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

I am so happy to be
sharing a project once again featuring the beautiful Nuvo
embossing powders along with Tonic’s gorgeous Christmas dies. One of my favorite techniques using embossing
powders is Double Embossing on Aluminum Foil. This technique combines heated
embossing with dry embossing using embossing folders and results in a gorgeous
textured background like the one shown on this card. I started with a thick
square of cardstock covered with super heavy duty aluminum foil and swiped some
purple and brown Staz-On inks direct to the aluminum foil. Next I covered the
inside of one side of Tonic’s Layered Leaves Embossing Folder with Versamark Watermark
Ink. You can choose which side of the embossing folder to coat with the
Versamark ink, but I like to ink the front or the flatter of the two sides. I
placed the aluminum covered square inside the Tonic embossing folder with the
foil facing the Versamarked side and ran it through my Tangerine using the
embossing plates. Then I dumped Nuvo Purple Haze, Hot Chocolate and Classic
Gold embossing powders randomly on the inked aluminum foil and heat set those
powders. The last step is to sponge on some black ink around the edges and the
raised embossed leaves. The result is a textured colored shiny background which
I attached to a purple square cardbase. Here is a close-up of the Double
Embossed background:

I die cut the
Rococo Fern Garland out of white cardstock, attached it to the front and added
some “berries” created with Violet Galaxy Crystal Drops. To finish the card, I
die cut the Happy Holidays Essentials die out of purple cardstock and black
craft foam, glued them together and then to the card.

If you love die cuts and crafty project inspiration and chances to
win great Tonic Studios prizes, you will want to join the new Tonic Fanatics
Facebook group! Here is a link to the group or search Tonic Fanatics USA on Facebook and join up
today!

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

am sharing a Z-fold
card featuring three different ways to use Nuvo embossing powders on cards
without any stamping. I started with a purple piece of cardstock cut to measure
5” by 11” and scored at 2 ¾” and 5 ½”. I also cut a pink piece 1” x 11” and
scored it the same way, and a 4 ¾” x ¾” pink piece scored at the one inch line
on both sides. After attaching the larger pink strip along the bottom of both
sides of the z-fold card, I added the smaller pink strip inside for another decorative
tab. I applied Nuvo Gold Enchantment Glitter Embossing Powder to ½” and ¼”
strips of two sided tape and heat set them with my heat gun. When heated with a
heat gun, the embossing powder on the glue strips becomes textured and sparkly.
I applied the strips to the inside of the z-fold card and on the right side of
the pink strip.

Here is a look at
the z-fold card closed:

I die cut Tonic’s
Rococo Decorated Candle out of 2 sided tape paper applied to a thin white
cardstock piece. I created a mix of Nuvo embossing powders that included
Ballerina Pink, Soft Lilac, Gold Enchantment and Shimmering Pearl. I removed the tape from the diecut candle
piece and dumped the pretty mixed embossing powders on the Decorated Candle. I
put only the Gold Enchantment Glitter Embossing Powder on the flame, then heat
set it all with my heat gun. Here is a close-up of the lovely mix of colors on
the Decorated Candle:

A third way to use embossing
powders is featured on the Rising Dove in the center of the card. I applied two
sided tape paper on a very thick piece of white cardstock because I did not
want the inside pieces of the dove’s wings and tail and the branch and eye to
fall out. After die cutting the dove, I used my Tim Holtz Tonic pick to remove
only the top tape on the wavy pieces in the wings and tail, then sprinkled on
Ballerina Pink Embossing Powder. I next removed the top tape off the dove’s eye
and peace branch and applied Serenity Blue Embossing Powder. Then I removed the
rest of the top tape, sprinkled on Shimmering Pearl Glitter Embossing Powder
and then heat set it all before attaching it to the center tab. Here is a
close-up of the lovely Rising Dove:

I die cut the Peace
rectangular center of the Mistletoe Wreath Frame and the “Joy to the World”
Essentials word die out of a light purple cardstock and attached them to
complete my Christmas wishes Z-Fold card.

If you love die cuts and crafty project inspiration and chances to
win great Tonic Studios prizes, you will want to join the new Tonic Fanatics
Facebook group! Here is a link to the group or search Tonic Fanatics USA on Facebook and join up
today!

Monday, October 17, 2016

Happy Monday everyone! It's my turn to post a
card on Die-Version's blog and mine,
and I am sharing this

pretty card I created with a new favorite Die-Versions die
and glitter. I die cut Die-Version’s Jumping Dolphins out of a piece of thick
cardstock with a sheet of two sided tape paper on it. I removed the top of the
tape from the flowers and dumped on ultra-fine purple glitter. I removed the
top of the tape on the dolphins and added ultra-fine black glitter to them.
Then I completed the glittery picture with ultra-fine green glitter. I die cut
the Celebrate Edge Die and attached the Jumping Dolphins before adding the
front piece to a teal blue card.

**Remember you can get a 15% discount on any
of Die-Version’s great dies by simply using my discount code karen15 when
you check out at the Die-Versions website.**

Sunday, October 16, 2016

I had a few minutes this week and a turkey die from Die-namics I have never used, so I decided to make my local stamp club challenge card for next month. I liked the sketch and we were to use embossing- either kind- so I did my favorite double embossing on aluminum foil with a leaves embossing folder from Sizzix. I used some different embossing powders this time from Stampendous and Stampamania for an aged and fall colored look. I created the card front with a Memory Box stencil and the gorgeous red Glimmer Paste from Nuvo. I die cut the "Gobble Gobble" turkey in a fall colored dp and black and offset them just a bit when I attached them together. Here is a look from the side of the card to see some of the dimension of the glimmer paste and the layers:

Saturday, October 15, 2016

It’s Saturday and time for another fun challenge at Send a Smile 4 Kids! This time our challenge is: Celebration Cards 4 Kids! Create and link any celebration card appropriate for a child and you could win one of our great prizes.

We have two very generous sponsors for this challenge: DRS Designs is giving their winner a $10 gift certificate! And the winner from Kitchen Sink Stamps receives a $25 gift certificate! TEAM S.A.S will also be choosing their favorite cards for our top three and the winners will receive a blog badge and an opportunity to be a guest design team member on a future challenge.I am featuring a sweet digi from DRS Designs called Skating Penguin on my CAS celebration card for a child today. I printed him, did a little coloring and paper piecing and cut him out. I created a red card base with an embossing folder and popped him up on mounting tape for dimension when attaching. I added a cheerful "Jingle Bells" cut with a die from Die-Versions.

Friday, October 14, 2016

So many of my cards are created with dies only and no stamps nowadays. I really love the look and reach for dies more than stamps for most of my cards. I wanted to design a CAS guy's card because it seems that is the type of card most of us do not have enough of. I die cut the background of this card with a die from Dee's Distinctively. The feather opening was created with a die from Die-Versions and the sentiment is from Sue Wilson and cut out with deckle scissors.

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

This time of year I tend to make fall or Christmas cards but when I am working on an article, anything I create has to be non-seasonal unless I want to wait a year to see it published. If you follow me, you know I fell in love with this fun double embossed technique and have made many cards with it and sold an article on the technique in cooperation with Melissa who first shared a card with it here. I played with some different colors of Staz-on and embossing powders and some floral embossing folders to design these two cards.

I used blue and black Staz-on, light and dark purple and blue embossing powders, Sizzix and We R Memory Keepers embossing folders and Tonic Studios sentiment dies. The butterfly was created with a Martha Stewart punch. The article will be published in June of next year as the deadlines are set that much in advance of publication.

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Once in a while I see a set of stamps and/or dies on a blog or Pinterest and I know I absolutely have to have them! That was the case with this set of stamps with matching dies from Simon Says Stamp called Wine Aerobics. The corkscrew and wine corks are "exercising"- too cute! I stamped the corkscrews with gold embossing powder and cut them out with their matching dies. I stamped the little corks on cork paper and die cut them with the dies from the set. I used some square Nestabilities dies to cut out the kraft squares and the white cardfront in diamond shapes. Of course the perfect sentiment stamps were from the same set from Simon Says Stamp. This will be perfect for one of my many wine loving friends!

Monday, October 10, 2016

I recently purchased this lovely Northwoods leaf scene stamp at a used stamp sale for $1.00! Quite a bargain, right? I decided to create a colorful sunset scene with fall colors from Lindy's Magicals on watercolor paper. Then I stamped the leaf scene with my MISTI several times and also stamped the loon on white paper and cut him out. I added the "hello" sentiment cut with a Little B die. I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at Scrapy Land and the Autumnal Creatures challenge at Craft Stamper Magazine.

Sunday, October 9, 2016

I am blessed in many ways and one of my biggest blessings is the joy I get from designing and sharing card making ideas with friends, in classes and on my blog. I created the background of this card with autumn colors of Lindy's Magicals which are watercolor powders with sparkle in them. I die cut the autumn frame out of red mirror card using a new die from Tutti Designs. After layering that on a green card base, I added the "Blessed" sentiment cut with a die from Penny Black. I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at Scrapy Land.

Friday, October 7, 2016

I am sharing a Halloween card
I made for my grandson with some Crackerbox Palace stamps and a fun new interactive die I
purchased from Karen Burniston for Elizabeth Crafts. The picture above shows
the card closed and here is a picture of how the card looks when you pull the
tab:

I stamped the funny Halloween
poem and bats from Crackerbox Palace and hung a ghost charm (also from Elizabeth Crafts) from the frame. The
bat fence was created with a Martha Stewart punch and the Halloween cardstock
is from my stash.

Here is another look at the
card as well as the inside where I stamped another Halloween CBP greeting:

And here is a picture of the
sweet grandson who will be receiving this card for Halloween. Yup- he is 10 and
is almost as tall as Grandma!

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Today I am sharing a cute Halloween card I made for my grandson who is turning one soon. I used a digital stamp from my collection. an old stamp and a punch for this CAS card. Here is a recent picture of us:

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

As you know, I love fun fold cards and have made a few z-fold cards since discovering this fold earlier this year. I saw a couple versions on Pinterest with extra tabs in the center but never saw a tutorial for how to do it. It looks similar to box cards I have made, so I tried it and it was not difficult to figure out. The picture above shows the card closed for mailing. Here is a look at the card opened up to show the fences on the inside tabs:

Isn't that fun? Here are the measurements in case you would like to make one: I started with a spooky cardstock weight designer paper I bought at JoAnns cut 5 1/2" x 11" and scored at 5 1/2" and 2 3/4". I cut the orange strip 1" x 11" and scored at the same measurements. I cut two black tabs 4 3/4" x 3/4" and scored on each side at 1 inch. I diecut the Happy Halloween Channel die from Memory Box out of black and attached it to the longer side of the orange strip. I popped up the little pumpkin for the O. I punched the jack-o-lantern face (punch from Fiskars) and attached the orange strip. The two black tabs are attached inside the center of the orange strip and I punched and attached the Halloween fence using a Martha Stewart punch. I die cut Cheery Lyn's Witches Skirt out of purple and attached it upside down behind the fences. I added some grey bats (die from IO) and a ghost die cut with an old Sizzix die. Here is another look at this fun fold card:

The Fine Print

DISCLAIMER: Some of my blogposts and video descriptions contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and purchase something, I’ll receive a small commission. The price you pay is not affected when you use an affiliate link. This helps support my blog and YouTube channel and and allows me to reinvest in more products to share. Thank you for the support!

All designs, text, and pictures on this blog are owned by Karen Hasheck. Original cards & scrapbook pages are posted for your enjoyment and inspiration only. Please do not copy my work for submission for publication or design contests. Feel free to use my design ideas for your own personal use, but try to change them up to make them your own. Thank you!